Salt
(This children’s talk is based on Matthew 5: 13)
Theme: Christians as salt of the earth.
Objective:
1. To teach that Christian love is like salt of the earth.
2. To show how salt can be recovered from salt water.
3. To teach that Jesus can recover the love that is in us.
Focus Phrase/ Word:
1. We are like salt.
2. Jesus in us.
Materials:
1. A clean glass jar.
2. Two pencils
3. Two pieces of string
4. Two paper clips
5. salt
Preparation:
1. Watch a You Tube on how to grow a salt crystal.
2. Grow a salt crystal. Use a clean glass jar and fill it to near the top with saturated salt water. Tie one end of the string to the pencil and the other end to the paper clip. The paper clip is only used to way down the string so it does not float in the jar. Place the pencil across the opening of the glass jar to lower the string into the salt water solution. Leave the glass jar undisturbed for a few days and watch the salt crystal grow on the string.
3. After you have grown a salt crystal, remove the pencil with string and salt crystal on it and keep it in a safe place.
4. Make another pencil, string and paper clip arrangement to use as a ‘before’ demonstration.
5. Place the lid on the jar with the salt water solution because it will be presented first in the children’s talk.
Drama Points:
1. When the children are in place start as soon as possible, it helps to settle them and gain their attention.
“Good morning everyone, I have here a jar of salty water. It is very salty. It is as salty as sea water by the beach.”
2. “This salt water isn’t much good for anything. If you drink it, you will get very sick. If you pour it out on to the garden, the plant will die. It isn’t much good for anything.”
3. “And yet, salt is good. We all like salt, we all want salt, most of us use a little salt on our food to make it taste a bit better. You can find salt in every home, and in every restaurant. A little bit of salt can make a big difference in our life.”
4. “As you can see, the salt is invisible in the water. So, how can you get the salt out of the water?
5. “One way to get the salt out of the water is to put something into the jar. What can you put into the jar to get the salt out?”
(At this time, remove the lid off the jar and get out the string without the salt crystal on it.)
6. “I am going to put string into the salt water solution.”
(Show the children the pencil, string and paper clip rig and place the string into the jar with the pencil resting across the opening of the jar.)
7. “After a few days, the salt will come out of the water and cling to the string. Since we haven’t got a few days to wait and show you what happens, I have prepared one earlier.”
(Bring out the other string with the salt crystal on it and show it to the children.)
8. “There, you can see the lump of salt on the string. By putting something into the jar you can get the salt out.”
9. “Sometimes our life is like this salt water in the jar, it’s no good for anything. Like salt we have love inside of us. It is invisible to see at times and just sloshes around inside of us.”
10. “Like salt, love is useful. We all want love, we all need love, and a little bit of love can make a big difference to our life.”
11. “How then, can you get that love out and be useful?”
12. “Like the string in the salt water, when you put Jesus into your life, then like the salt love forms and comes out. Jesus is all you need to make you a loving person and useful to others.”
13. Finish with prayer.
“Let us pray. Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us. Come into our life and make us loving people so that we may be useful to others by giving them the love that they need. Amen.”
